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After a few trips, the book regains some ground I figured was lost in the previous two issues. The best highlight for me of the two lack luster issues was the return of Stunner. With her carries A LOT of character plot of Ock from the 90s. The two were inseperable and Ock really did show he cared for her during that era.

Even in the Spock Era, that caring still remains as Spock actually holds back as Stunner just goes to town on him. Every fight so far Spock didn't really ever hold back and wasn't into crowd control as he was here. After a few close calls the fight ends as it naturally does with Spock winning. But the question becomes what to do with Stunner? Slott weaves enough callbacks to the 90s Ock stories that Spock won't do what he's done to previous foes he's faced.

So he uses the tech that gives Stunner her abilities to live again as "90s Pimp Suit Ock". The tech nicely ties up this and the other subplot of the previous issue with the "friend" of Otto's about to ruin Peter. I'm kind of surprised at how tidy that was cleaned up actually.

Well, tidy won't be whatever Slott's playing with the Goblin subplot. It FINALLY returns with a vengeance this issue. Menace kidnaps Carlie who visits "Otto"'s grave and mourns Pete only to find there's no body in the grave.

So whose got the body? The Green Goblin? That doesn't appear to be the case given the ending which has Menace deliver Carlie to Green Goblin who now has Carlie's journal detailing possibly.. EVERYTHING. Yeah I'm curious how in detail Carlie's journal is. Given we know a new Goblin is also on the horizon makes me wonder what Gobby is gonna do to Carlie.

Still the other real mystery is who's got Ock's body? Spock? The Jackal? Green Goblin? Mysteries abound but I doubt we'll get any with the Venom arc about to hit next. I'm kind of worried for Flash. Heh I even love Slott's playing with our expectations teasing an almost Stacy-esque ending (Captain variety, not Gwen) with Anna-Marie almost getting killed via Stunner's callous actions.

I'm loving the wild ride and I can't wait to see were this goes next.

sdsichero wrote:I especially like and admire Zechs. He's everything I wish I could be!

Good review but I just want to know what's going on with the Hobgoblin and the upcoming showdown between him and the Green Goblin again. On a flipside I was kind of hoping Ock would kill Stunner but I guess Slott has some plans for her down the road, I assume.

Just when you think everything is about to come crashing down upon the head of Otto Octavius, he manages to wriggle his way out of it yet again. But even with SpOck surviving the twin threats from his past of Stunner and Dr. Lamaze, Dan Slott makes sure to let us know that the endgame is still fast approaching, as the Green Goblin comes back into this title in a big, big way.

This was another excellent issue of this consistently great series, especially in how Spider-Man was both heroic and villainous, almost at the same time, basically, this issue encapsulated everything that’s great about this concept. The issue begins at The Daily Bugle, with Betty Brant returning to work there, and being shocked at how much things have changed. Luckily, not everything has changed, as she and Robbie are soon attacked by a villain looking for Spider-Man. That villain is of course Stunner, who commits a crime in front of a Spider-Bot in order to attract the attention of the man she thinks killed her boyfriend, but is actually her boyfriend. Oh man, it’s messed up.

Across town, Otto is dealing with the accusations from Dr. Lamaze that he has plagiarized… himself, and boy, he ain’t doing too well. I loved seeing his self-control drop here, and for him to go into full-on evil super-villain plot mode, thinking that he should use piranhas or build a robot double to take out Lamaze. Luckily, Anna Maria sees this is a joke, and it did work as both a funny scene, as well as a serious signifier that, no matter how far he has come, Doc Ock is still a villain. Spider-Man rushes off to fight Stunner, and they have a really entertaining, emotionally charged fight. I said it last time, and I’ll say it again, it’s amazing how many cool, new story ideas this change has wrought, and being able to bring back fucking Stunner, of all the Z-list villains, and have it feel important and worth it is among the best.

Stunner and Spidey’s fight culminates back at the University, with both Dr. Lamaze and Anna Maria put in danger by Stunner chucking a bus at them. Spider-Man saves them with his all-new, all-powerful webbing, and it’s here that Otto has a real ‘big hero’ moment, as he realises that he truly does love Anna Maria. It’s surprising to me how much I liked Otto in this scene, as I said, Slott has done a fantastic job at making the audience like SpOck in one scene, and then hate him in the next. He’s a true anti-hero in a world where that word is used way too much and way too inaccurately. Using his technology (something Peter Parker couldn’t have done), Spider-Man shuts down Stunner, and goes back to his lab to use the VR rig she was using to get himself out of his various pickles. He creates a VR version of Otto Octavius, pretending that he’s still alive, and uses it to first tell Stunner to move on and then to tell Dr. Lamaze that Peter Parker hasn’t plagiarized him, and that Parker was the true genius behind all of his work in the first place. It was amazing to see Otto sacrifice his ego like this, and perhaps it shows that he is starting to move on from viewing himself as Otto, and now he’s Peter? Now he wants Peter to be seen as the true genius and really put his past behind him, not just in terms of science, but in love.

Of course, there are people out there who aren’t willing to put the past in the past, and one of those is Carlie Cooper, who now knows the truth. She visits the grave of Otto Octavius, which we and she know is actually Peter Parker’s grave, apologizing to him in what is a really great, emotional scene, but then, just as she lays some flowers… the empty grave collapses and she is grabbed by a mysterious, green hand. This hand belongs to Menace, who takes her to the Green Goblin, and gives him Carlie’s journal detailing all she’s discovered about what’s been happening. So now, after a few issues of the Goblins being absent, they are back, and the Green Goblin knows that Doc Ock is Spider-Man. Oh man, this Goblin War story cannot come soon enough.

The art for this issue from Giuseppe Camuncoli was excellent as always, and basically, this was another top-notch issue. This is a complex book with a lot going on, but Slott is balancing everything masterfully, the past, the present, and the future all combining to screw with Spider-Man’s life, and up next… Venom, I can’t wait.

Draco x wrote:Good review but I just want to know what's going on with the Hobgoblin and the upcoming showdown between him and the Green Goblin again. On a flipside I was kind of hoping Ock would kill Stunner but I guess Slott has some plans for her down the road, I assume.

There's no reason for Ock to kill Stunner. He always loved her or had. He's not evil to do something like that to her. So the way Slott dealt with the situation is the perfect end to the plot for now.

sdsichero wrote:I especially like and admire Zechs. He's everything I wish I could be!

Zechs wrote:There's no reason for Ock to kill Stunner. He always loved her or had. He's not evil to do something like that to her. So the way Slott dealt with the situation is the perfect end to the plot for now.

Well seeing as how Spock will have to deal with the Green Goblin and Hobgoblin very soon, he could've put her in stasis and used her as one of his enforcers for when things hit the fan.